


Until the End of the Line

by Mandergee



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Death of a Parent, F/M, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Philinda AU Challenge, academy au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-31
Updated: 2014-10-31
Packaged: 2018-02-23 10:45:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2544701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mandergee/pseuds/Mandergee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She'll do whatever it takes to preserve the memories of his childhood...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Until the End of the Line

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 'costume party' prompt for Philinda AU.

“You won't be going as Captain America this year.” May stared into the waterlogged box as Coulson lifted the corner flap, revealing the clearly labelled contents. His Halloween costume, he'd told her proudly. Six years running- with minor tailoring to the suit in order to accommodate the height he'd gained throughout the years. “I'm sorry. I know how much you were looking forward to it.”

“It's a costume party. Nothing important, and there's always next year.” Student storage had been hit with the damage caused by a burst pipe, and while those whose belongings were stored in plastic bins had been fortunate...those whose personal items had been neatly packed in newspaper and cardboard boxes had not. Coulson had been among those with battered cartons holding the few possessions he couldn't fit into his closet, and as May reached for his shoulder she could feel the tensing of muscles beneath his shirt, see the tightening of his jaw as he tried to hide the disappointment.

When his mother had died the year before May had been with him, had watched the way his face had slackened when the RA handed him a thick envelope containing the formal letter. She'd died in Washington, it read, an allergic reaction to something she'd encountered when at a dinner with friends- and in her hotel room had been the temporary pass that would allow for a visit to see her son at S.H.I.E.L.D Academy the next day. She'd never make it, and as May had watched his eyes she'd seen in them the slow realization that there would be a lot of things his mother was never going to be able to do again.

“Your mom made this, didn't she?” Seams were splitting- water had already taken to the dye and made the red run across white, angry streaks that stood out as she lifted it out of the box. He nodded solemnly, took the limp fabric out of her hands and tucked it back into the box, lifting the entirety to carry it over the to the nearby dumpster. “Phil, wait-”

“It's all right, Melinda. It's ruined. Come on- we're going to be late.” They were scheduled together for Strategy and Surveillance, and as she glanced at her watch May realized they were well on their way to _being_ late already. She considered trying to convince him to play hooky, to go with her into the city and the horror festival at the cineplex- but even as she watched him heave the box...she knew she'd have to play hooky alone.

“I'll be there in a few minutes. There's something I have to do first.”

\--

“You don't sew.”

“Would you just shut up and hand me the navy blue? Jesus- you'd think they'd make the eye of a needle just a _little_ easier to thread.” May hissed as the needle pierced her thumb yet again, and rolled her eyes toward the knowing grin of the woman who hovered over her. “Staring isn't helping, Maria.”

“Hey, don't look at me. They didn't teach us sewing where I come from.” Maria leaned in further, watched as May pulled the needle through the thick blue fabric and tied off the knot. “What do you know- it actually _looks_ like a Captain America costume.”

“I don't sew every day, true...but I _did_ learn. And I think it came out pretty well, considering.”

“Considering you skipped every class since eleven-thirty this morning. You know, Coulson was asking about you. Wanted to know why you told him you'd come to S&S and never showed up.”

“Yeah, well- I had something more important to do.” May had salvaged what she could of the original costume, glanced at the battered shield that sat on her bed and down at the boots she'd dropped by the door. They'd managed to overcome the water damage, both items wrapped in the the rest of the costume, and she'd spent the better part of the afternoon hunting the nearby fabric stores in an attempt to track down the right colors to make up the shirt and pants he'd need for the complete outfit. Her skills were rough, but she'd managed the large white star in the middle, and the last of it had been the mask, which dangled limply from Maria's fingertips. “Careful with that. If I have to fix anything now, I swear I'll take you down next time we're matched up in combat drills.”

“I'm not worried. Anyone as soft as you is going to be easy for me to deflect- and if sewing a Halloween costume for Phil Coulson isn't soft, I don't know what is.” The mask was abandoned on top of the shield, and Maria sat on the edge of her own bed, focusing her attention on May. “Melinda. You didn't just spend the entire day making a costume just because. What gives?”

When she'd been twelve, May remembered asking her mother to make her a fairy princess costume. She'd wanted the wings that were as white as snow, glitter and sparkles, a tiara that shone against her dark brown curls like diamonds. And before her father had disappeared he'd called her his princess, told her she was the one person who could and would always rule his heart. But he'd gone, and each time she'd bring up her need for a princess outfit her mother would deny the request, anger clouding her expression whenever her daughter would mention the man who'd left them both.

Halloween didn't give her memories worth hanging on to, but for Coulson- it had been one of the last things he'd shared with his mother. And when she'd seen him open that box, lift up the ruined piece of his childhood, May had known that she'd do whatever she had to do in order to bring those memories back to him.

“I'm changing in his room,” She decided, hefting her own costume from the back of the door and cradling the bag beneath her arm. Maria offered an empty duffel and the mass of tulle was stuffed into it, velcro closure crackling shut. “See you at the party.”

“Can't wait.” As the door closed May caught sight of the saucy grin, and shook her head as she maneuvered down the hall with costume pieces and duffel slung over her shoulder. Maria could be right, she thought, but if luck was on her side the job she'd done would hold together long enough to give Coulson an evening worth going out for.

\---

“Get dressed.”

“May.” He'd answered in boxers, chest covered in wiry brown hair that caught the rough surface of her fingers as she pushed him back and strode into the tiny dorm room. The shorts, she found with no surprise, were Captain America prints, and her face flushed briefly as she realized that the star in the center was ever so slightly protruding. _Who designed those things, anyway?_ “What are you doing here?”

“We're going to the party. Maria's going to meet us there, and you need to get dressed.” The paper bag was shoved into his arms and she watched his eyebrows draw together as his fingers gently probed the shape of its contents. “Phil. There's no time to mess around- I need to change, and so do you.”

“You need to-”

“Just open the bag.” She closed the door behind her and leaned against it, kept her expression neutral as he opened the mouth of the bag and reached inside to withdraw the limp leather boots that she'd managed to save. His eyes narrowed as he continued to grope inside, and May reached for the doorknob to his adjoining bathroom even as he pulled out another boot. “At this rate you'll barely have it unpacked by the time I get dressed, so I'm going to start getting ready. Even though you don't seem to have a problem answering the door half dressed, I'll wait for you to give me the all clear before I come out.”

She'd chosen well, she thought, and twenty minutes later Coulson's shout had her struggling to get her wide, fluffy skirt through the doorway of his bathroom and back into the tiny single-occupant room. His back was turned and May could see the toned muscles of his back beneath the thick fabric, wondered if the stitches she'd put into place would hold well against the examples she'd seen when he'd opened the door. No one had suspected that the awkward, stumbling Phil Coulson would be as fit as she'd seen, and she had to admit that he'd probably make a much better Captain America than she'd suspected.

“What do you think?” It brought out the blue in his eyes, she thought, as he turned to face her and tugged the mask into place. His eyes were all she could see as they stared into hers, and her face warmed as he didn't look away. “Fits pretty well, hm?”

“Yeah.”

“You didn't have to do this, you know.” He stepped forward and reached to comb his gloved fingers through the delicate corkscrew curls of her dark brown hair. She'd pinned it up, left curls dangling to frame her face, and his glove brushed soft against her cheek as he let his hand fall. “You look beautiful. A fairy princess?”

“The tooth fairy.” She spun, felt the tulle and silk flutter in her wake as she reached into a hidden pocket and withdrew a wad of single bills. The bodice had come so tight that she could barely draw a breath, and before she'd started in on his costume she'd managed to work a place to hide the money into her skirt. And the wings were small, light, but held all of the sparkle she'd always wanted in the fairy princess costume she'd never had. “I figure that I've knocked out enough teeth in the last few weeks of hand to hand that I should probably start paying people for them. I always wanted to be a princess, but somehow...this just seemed more fitting.”

“Well, you're a princess to me.” He found her hand again and lifted it to his lips. They were warm against her skin, and it tingled when he pulled them away. “Thank you for this. You don't know how much-”

“I could see it,” She admitted, and stepped forward to reach for his mask, pulling the bottom down until his eyes were centered and she could see herself reflected in them. “I didn't want you to lose those memories of Halloween with your mother, even if you can't wear the costume she made you.”

“I still have the boots,” He drew her arm through his. “And I have the prettiest woman on campus. Those memories are great. But new memories, especially this one...those are going to mean a lot to me.”

“Then shall we go, Captain?”

“On your left,” He jauntily saluted before lifting his shield from the bed with his free hand, and as she let him lead her through the open door May realized that his fingers had woven through hers. Maybe she wasn't going as Peggy Carter, but she knew what it was to be on Captain America's arm.

Because Coulson, she thought, was  _her_ Steve Rogers.

Until the end of the line.


End file.
